Barbie Convertible Birthday Cake: Part Deux

Yay! I recovered my hard drive (Thanks, Matt! You ROCK!) So I found the rest of my Barbie cake photos. See, it's really cake under there. All the detail was done in fondant. I even took off Barbie's high heels and stuck them on the seat next to her. And you can see the zebra print leather inlay and the details of the car's interior. Phew! Thought I lost those. And the final photo shows the cake next to the toy from which it's modeled. It was so cute that it deserves two posts, don't you think?

Star Wars Cupcakes

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, these cupcakes were the hit of the party! I made these for our friend Ethan for his Star Wars birthday party. When his mom mentioned the theme, I remembered seeing these killer cookie cutters at Williams Sonoma. So I ran out to get them. I tinted and rolled out fondant, then used the cookie cutters to make Darth Vader, Stormtroopers, Yoda and Boba Fett cupcake toppers. Then I created my own fondant designs for Luke Skywalker, Princess Leah, R2D2 and C3PO. I painted all the details on the fondant faces with food writer markers and luster dust. Lastly, I made Chewbacca by piping chocolate fur and adding frosting eyes plus a fondant nose and teeth. For the adults, I did a simple swirl of white frosting and topped them with fondant stars and edible star confetti. How did they turn out so cute? I think the force was with me. ;)

Barbie Convertible Birthday Cake

I have to tell you that I was so excited about how this cake turned out! It was so fun and so pink that I immediately downloaded my photos. Unfortunately, when I went back to post the photos, that was the day my computer died. So I had to beg for photos from the client (thank goodness it was for a friend!) and so these are the only pictures I have so far.

So both cakes were cookies and cream cake with vanilla icing. I made a two layer cake for the bottom and covered it in light pink fondant. The second cake was a four layer cake that I sculpted into the Barbie Glam Convertible (a special thank you here to my niece Emily who graciously loaned me her toy car for a model). I trimmed the cake until it looked like the car, and covered it in hot pink fondant. I dug out a place for the seats and covered the car's interior with black fondant. Since I lost my photos, you cant really see the detail, but I added stitching and a little stick shift, a radio on the dash board and a fondant steering wheel. I even made the zebra striped inlay in the leather seats. I added the details to the car with fondant and luster dusts, including the fondant windshield. For Barbie, I molded her by hand out of fondant and added spun sugar for her hair... JUST KIDDING! I picked up a doll at Target (actually my daughter picked her out), took off her little high heels and stuck her feet into the cake to wedge her in. (I'm good, but not that good!) I added writing and little fondant flowers to finish off the cake. I was excited to hear that the birthday girl was actually receiving said convertible toy for her Barbie birthday party, so that was a cool coincidence. At least I know that the Barbie doll got a sweet ride once they got the frosting off her feet! You go girl.

Beachy 40th Birthday Cake

This cake was for a classy dinner party to celebrate a special birthday. I tried to keep it simple; the cake was red velvet and it was covered with cream cheese icing that I tinted a sand color. Since cream cheese is hard to get smooth, I left some "waves" in the icing and kept it looking organic. Then I topped the cake with fun stuff: raw sugar "sand", white coral piped from icing, and a collection of hand molded white chocolate shells (which I brushed with luster dusts in white pearl, copper, and aqua blue). My small handful of fans know that I like a little "bling" on my cakes, so I added some white and metallic blue pearls for some sparkle. And I topped the whole cake with my new chocolate number picks (I mold them myself and they have a pointed bottom that stick into the cake - very cool) Since I delivered this cake, I know it looked great with the decor of the party. I just love a color-coordinated event!

Puppy Party Birthday Cake

First, let me just give a shout-out to all my friends and fans who have really cool parties with themes that let me do really fun cakes! This cake was for a friend whose daughter had a Puppy Party for her 7th birthday. My instructions - puppies with blue and purple. This was my interpretation. The cake was chocolate chocolate chip on the bottom and cookies & cream on the top. I covered the tiers with my homemade icing and a layer of purple fondant. And I topped the cake with a king-size cupcake. I molded all 4 puppies out of fondant and decked them out with colorful party hats. Then I added presents around the tiers with fondant boxes and piped icing ribbons. I added the banner in front and a big "7" for the birthday girl. And I finished it off by piping little white puppy prints all over the cake. I really liked the final result (as did the birthday girl and her family). And since I got to attend the party, I actually got a slice of cake! (Good for quality control. And yes, I still eat cake from time to time! I wish I didn't.)

Graduation Party Centerpieces

It was such a nice break to do something that didn't involve washing any dishes! These centerpieces were for a graduation party for a Laguna Beach High School grad. My challenge was to create some festive centerpieces for a grad party that could be used again the following week for another grad party. I usually do fresh flowers for centerpieces, but with the multi-party aspect and the fact that 17 year old football player didn't really say "roses" to me, I decided to go another direction. So I did 5 different centerpieces for dining tables that incorporated personal photos and the school colors of maroon and white. I made 2 that were "beachy" with sand, shells, and synthetic coral and sparkly plant life. I made 2 more that were school-related (real apples in fish bowl vases, pennants and "2010"s). And the last centerpiece had a cool graphic photo that the grad had used to campaign for class president. I played of that photo and went with all red filler, apples on sticks, and a little blackboard sign. I also added some touches that evoked 4th of July with the sparkly stars in red and silver and picks that simulated fireworks. I was really thrilled with how they came out...they really set the tone for the party. They were fun, but still elegant and personal. Congratulations Ryan! Good luck in your future endeavors.